Thousands rally for immigrant rights in US
Tens of thousands of people banged drums, waved US flags and marched in a protest urging federal politicians to pass immigration reform that would legalise an estimated 11 million undocumented workers.
Shouting “Si Se Puede!” – Spanish for “Yes, we can!” – the marchers crammed into the streets yesterday. They included families pushing strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American flags on their carts. Many wore white clothing to symbolise peace.
Police estimated the crowd at 350,000 to 500,000. There were no reports of violence.
It was among several demonstrations that drew thousands of protesters yesterday in New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Alabama, Utah, Oregon, Idaho and California.
“If we don’t protest they’ll never hear us,” said Oscar Cruz, 23, a construction worker who marched among the estimated 50,000 in San Diego. Cruz, who arrived illegally in the US in 2003, said he had feared a crackdown but felt encouraged by the large marches across the country in recent weeks.
In Birmingham, Alabama, demonstrators marched along the same streets where civil rights activists clashed with police during the 1960s and rallied at a park where a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. stands as a reminder of the fight for equal rights and the violence that once plagued the city.
“We’ve got to get back in touch with the Statue of Liberty,” said The Rev. Lawton Higgs, a United Methodist pastor and activist. “We’ve got to get back in touch with the civil rights movement, because that’s what this is about.”
